Sifting the good from the bad: Sino-African relations, a balance sheet.

"The battle for influence in the world between the West and China should not be Africa´s problem. Our continent is in a hurry to build infrastructure, affordable energy and educate our people…." These are the words of an irritated Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal who apparently smiles at Africa´s new friendship with China. Wade was a fierce critic of the Equal Partnership Agreements (EPAs) proposed by the EU to African leaders in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2007. He had comforting words for Sino-African relations. "China´s approach to our needs is simply better adapted than the slow and sometimes patronizing post-colonizing approach of European investors, donor organizations and non-governmental organizations. In fact, the Chinese model for stimulating rapid economic development has much to teach Africa."

President Wade´s counterpart in South Africa, Thabo Mbeki appears to disagree with such unguided optimism. In 2006, Mbeki warned against a possible Chinese version of Chinese colonialism. This he said could result in "an unequal relationship with Beijing such as had developed between Africa and the colonial powers."

Such conflicting views about Africa´s fast slide into China´s arms suggest two things for African and world politics. Firstly, it highlights the present and future implications of China´s unrestrained sway over Africa. Secondly, it underscores the nature, purpose and direction of western responses to this growing Sino-African alliance. The heat of this debate is carried in the words of Zhong Jianhua, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa. "China was never a topic before. Now it is more and more popular."

What goes by the name Sino-African alliance today is a product of many inter-related forces. These forces are as much historical as they are economic and political. Europe´s neglect of Africa is arguably at the root of China´s triumphant entry into Africa. It created the leadership vacuum which China transformed into a blessing. Secondly, western hypocrisy and double standards towards Africa created the climate of frustration and despair which threw Africa into the waiting hands of China. On China´s part, the single word that explains her bountiful harvest in Africa is "consistency."

Unlike Europe, China has hardly ever wavered in its commitment to Africa since the Cold War. Sustained dialogue, practical and meaningful assistance and the exchange of high level visits on both sides have kept the flames of this alliance burning. Keeping aside China´s assistance to liberation forces in Africa, the 1960s marked the beginning of vibrancy in Sino-African diplomacy. The visit to Africa in December 1963 and January 1964 by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai set the pace for this South-South consultation. This was followed by an unbroken chain of visits by Chinese officials to Africa. 1979 (Li Xiannian), 1982-83 (Zhao Ziyang), 1984, 1997, 1999, 2001 (Li peng), 1992 (Yang Shankun), 1996, 2000 (Jiang Ziang Zemin) and twice in 2002 (Zhou Rongji). Vice Premier Qian Qichen visited more than thirty six African countries between 1990 and 1998.

On Africa´s side, more than thirty African heads of state have visited China since 1997. President Hu Jintao made a grand tour of the African continent in 2006 and again in February 2007. These diplomatic exchanges prepared both sides for the challenges of the 21st century which opened with the monumental Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing in October 2000. The FOCAC Summit and the Third Ministerial Conference which was also summoned in Beijing in November 2006 confirmed China´s undisputed sway over Africa.

On the part of the West, The Lome Convention of 1975 was the only thing Europe could boast of in the name of an alliance with Africa. As archaic as it was, this pact underwent several appraisals and re-appraisals, none of which could restore Europe´s "paternal" claims over Africa. In a desperate attempt to cement ties with Africa, the EU proposed a summit with Africa in Cairo in 2000. This Cairo summit only confirmed the gulf that had grown between Africa and Europe. It took seven long more years for Africa and the EU to meet in Lisbon in December 2007. Despite promises of "equality," Europe got a negative response from Africa and on top of this, a warning. "It is evident that Europe is close to losing Africa," President Wade warned in Lisbon.

In a belated attempt to stamp America´s fingerprints on Africa, President George has concluded a five nation tour of Africa. He has promised to increase US efforts to combat disease and poverty. Above all, he has promised a "Lazarus effect" in the continent. These western promises only fell into African ears that appear more willing to experiment with China´s promises of a "win-win" relationship. These are the major forces shaping the debate about Sino-African relations. As the admirers and detractors clamor to be heard, Africa continues to listen.

The admirers

Admirers and advocates of Sino-African relations point to trade and investment as living proof of this alliance. The impact of Chinese trade with Africa has triggered a positive multiplier effect on the continent which gives credit to China´s "win-win" diplomacy. Africa registered a 5.2% growth rate in 2005, the highest level ever, in part because of Chinese investment and trade. Sino African trade hit $50 billion in 2006. In February 2008, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao predicted that this trade would reach $100 billion before 2010. This represents a more than 10 fold increase in a decade. Such a move is projected to drive China into an enviable position as Sub-Saharan Africa´s first trading partner, ahead of the US and France. This bustling trade is fast spurring much needed infrastructural improvement throughout Africa.

In the area of infrastructure, China has won many admirers throughout Africa. The TAN-ZAM railway in Southern Africa remains an unforgettable legacy in Sino-African cooperation. This "road of freedom," served as an invaluable weapon in the fight against apartheid and oppression in Southern Africa. Since the 1970s, Chinese infrastructure projects in Africa have become visible and unmistakable landmarks on the African landscape.

Chinese constructed roads, railways, dams, executive palaces, bridges, stadiums and airports have scored high marks in terms of their quality and the record time in which they are completed. "I have found that a contract that would take five years to discuss, negotiate and sign with the World Bank takes three months when we have dealt with the Chinese authorities," says the pro-Chinese Wade. "…when bureaucracy and senseless red tape impede our ability to act, and when poverty persists while international functionaries drag their feet, African leaders have an obligation to opt for swifter solutions," Wade observed.

China´s loan packages to Africa have won praises across the continent. Asphyxiating loans coated with stringent "conditionalities" have been identified as the deadly traps that have left Africa spinning in a vicious circle of poverty. Chinese "soft loans" to Africa do not go with questions. They do not follow the western "equator principles" of lending. The loans come with little or no interests attached. In recent years, China has cancelled $10 billion worth of debt owed by African countries as a gesture of benevolence. For many African governments, especially those caught in the complicated web of western debt traps, Chinese loans are a welcome relief.

The principle of "non-interference" is a major denominator in China´s political relations with Africa. China consistently proclaims this principle as a safe guard to its "One China Policy" which is a pillar of her external relations. Suspicious and spiteful of western conspiracy in Taiwan, Tibet and other parts of China, Beijing echoes non-interference as a warning signal to its principal rivals in the West against meddling into China´s internal affairs. Many African governments such as Sudan and Zimbabwe which seek to maintain tight control over mounting opposition see the Chinese version of non-interference as an ideal policy. For the rest of the continent, the "One China policy" is easiest route to secure Beijing´s benevolence.

"Sincerity, equality, mutual benefit and common development" are some of the key principles enshrined in what Beijing calls "China´s Africa Policy." This policy document was issued in January 1, 2006. This new foreign policy orientation emphasized on beneficial "cultural exchange." By this policy, China sought to strengthen and exchange cooperation in education, science, culture and health with Africa. Faithful to this policy, China has been instrumental in manpower training and development across Africa.

China has undertaken or contributed to construction projects in vital areas all over Africa. In the 1990s when western companies were scared away by the volatile civil war in Sudan, a Chinese state company completed a pipeline in Khartoum from the oil fields to Port Sudan in record two years. Since 2000, Chinese investors and state agencies have spent millions of dollars on road building in Kenya, a hydroelectric dam in Ghana and a mobile phone network in Ethiopia. Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Angola are among the many recipients of Chinese infrastructure projects in Africa. China has sent doctors to treat Africans across the continent and continues to provide training to African professionals. African administrators, military personnel, doctors and diplomats flood to China in large numbers for refresher courses. China pays host to thousands of African workers and students in Chinese universities. Lucrative trade has provided vast opportunities for African business people.

Despite western outcry, China boasts of several successes on Africa´s diplomatic front, humanitarian and peacekeeping missions in Africa. In 2004, China contributed 1500 peace keepers to UN missions across Africa including Liberia. China has shown its willingness to support efforts towards African unity. It has pledged to work with the AU in addressing issues of immediate concern to Africa. China´s efforts in eradicating disease have won the applause of African masses. The Chinese Tianshi medical company has made significant strides in curing diseases which have remained a dilemma in Africa.

China´s bold move into Africa and the warm embrace it has received continue to generate debates and controversies. This is fast becoming a hot topic in Third world politics and South-South relations. For some, China is seen as a savior. For others, China is simply another colonial power walking into a continent that lacks direction. Western criticisms of this alliance are basically hinged on human rights concerns. The West fears that China´s activities in Africa will reverse the achievements Africa has made in the area of democracy and stability and erode the influence of global institutions like the World Bank and IMF. Their side of the story is also long.

The detractors

What admirers of Sino-African relations see as a blessing, detractors see as a curse. These detractors cry out loud at the very heart of Sino-African ties, trade. Critics see this trade as China´s ploy to lay its grip on Africa´s vital resources, especially oil and minerals. They see nothing new in Sino-African trade except that it involves a change of direction from West to East. "The challenge is that you could … develop a relationship between China and the African continent which in reality isn´t different from the relationship that developed between Africa and the former colonial powers," said the skeptical Mbeki. Other critics see China´s oil investments in African countries like Sudan, Angola and Nigeria as a negative force which will go a long way to aggravate the "resource curse" thus making a mockery of democracy and human rights.

Still along the line of trade, there are increasing fears that China is transforming Africa into a dumping ground for its cheap goods of doubtful quality, thus helping to displace local economies. The language of dumping has also been applied to the massive influx of Chinese nationals into Africa. Zambia is a case in point where the opposition leader Michael Sata rose to prominence after accusing China of making Zambia what he called "a dumping ground for their human beings." This country was the scene of serious anti-Chinese riots in 2006 over poor treatment of Africans in Chinese-owned mines. Zambia´s capital, Lusaka holds about 30000 Chinese citizens.

Chinese "soft loans" to Africa have been attacked for helping to undermine the democratic process, encouraging corruption and making African dictators bolder and stronger. Other critics argue that China´s financial muscle may further reduce the already damaged legitimacy of institutions like the World Bank and IMF. These loans, they point out, will further pile more debt onto African countries recently emerging from HIPC loan cancellations. Professor Toyin Falola has sharply criticized China´s bilateralism with Africa which ignores civil society. "This is where the biggest challenge is both for African CSOs, NGOs, the pro-people forces and China itself," he said. "It replays the colonialist divide and conquer tactics." Falola also warned that African countries are too small to negotiate with China alone.

Very few aspects of Sino-African relations have generated as much controversy as China´s arms dealings with Africa. It is estimated that China sold $142 billion worth of military equipment to Africa between 1955 and 1977. Since then, the pace of sales has picked up significantly. Much of these sinister deals are said to be conducted with rogue and pariah governments which have been linked to oppression, dictatorship and abuse of human rights in Africa. Case studies include Sudan, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea. These shady arm deals have lent momentum to the spiral of conflicts gripping the African continent for decades.

When it comes to arms transfers and chaos in Africa, the one name that resonates is Darfur, the crisis-infested region of Sudan. All accusing fingers point to China. "The people of Sudan´s Darfur region will endure more death, disease and dislocation, and this will be in no small part to China´s callousness," says a report published by Human Rights First, a US-based group. This report reveals that Chinese made AK 47 assault rifles, grenade launchers and ammunition for rifles and heavy machine guns all flowed into Darfur. China (the report further holds), sold Sudan $55 million worth of small arms from 2003-2006 and provided 90% of Sudan´s small arms since 2004 when UN arms embargo took effect.

The gravity of the Darfur crisis since its inception in 2003 remains telling. This crisis which costs the UN a colossal sum of $2.0 billion annually has claimed the lives of 200.000 people and displaced about 2.5 million others. This is the situation which President Bush has categorized as "genocide." This boiling situation in Darfur has forced many western critics to link the Darfur crisis with the summer 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, as a means of calling international attention to China´s atrocities in Africa. Hollywood celebrity, Mia Sparrow, called the Beijing Olypics "genocide games" and likened it to Hitler´s games of 1936. Steven Spielberg also announced he was withdrawing as an artistic advisor over the Darfur issue.

Elsewhere in the continent, China´s arms sales deals have been cited as the cause of repression and conflict. Zimbabwe´s Robert Mugabe stands on the frontline of African leaders who stifle democracy and abuse human rights. Together with Sudan´s Oumar Al Bashir and a host of other African dictators, they enjoy diplomatic insulation under Chinese protection. China has used its weight in the UN to prevent any action against these rogue states. It is the same for Angola and Equatorial Guinea where corruption and graft are rife. Critics say China can go to any length to abuse human rights to secure its narrow economic interests in Africa especially oil and minerals. China´s sale of arms to the conflicting sides of the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict is seen as a replay of the same hypocrisy and double standards for which the West has been blamed over decades. These accusations have been mounting to frightful levels, forcing China to loosen up from its traditional position of silence.

What does China say?

Western cries against Chinese activities in Africa have fallen on deaf ears for a long time. However, when these attacks started linking the China´s policy in Africa with the Olympic Games, Beijing´s diplomatic machinery could no longer take the blows lying down. China has in recent years activated its diplomatic and media machinery to face the ceaseless torrent of western criticisms in an effort to restore its international image and to forestall all efforts aimed at destroying the spirit and meaning of the Beijing Olympics which is projected to show-case China´s growing power on the world stage.

When the US-based Human Rights First published its report about China´s atrocities in Darfur, Wand baodong, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington reacted furiously. The conclusions of the report are misleading, and the allegations against the Chinese government are unwarranted." Continued he, "it´s another typical example of a handful of people with political motives trying to vilify the Chinese government and the Beijing Olympic Games." The Chinese media also fiercely attacked Spielberg, accusing him of cowardice and naivety when he announced his intention to withdraw from the games.

Conscious of the sensitive nature of the Darfur crisis on her international image, Chinese top diplomats have made it a point of reference. In a speech delivered at Chathan House in London, Ambassador Liu Guijin, Chinese Special Envoy to Darfur expressed China´s position on Darfur in clear terms. "The Chinese government and people are deeply concerned about the Darfur issue and (are) wholly sympathetic to the suffering of the local people," he said. He continued further, "we believe the Darfur issue is complicated because it involves problems left over from history, natural conditions, distribution of resources and tribal relations." Wang reiterated China´s stance on sanctions. "We are against sanctions, embargoes or pressures on Sudan because we don´t think they can solve the problem."

In a similar note of (supposed) sympathy to the African course, and opposition to western sanctions, Zhang Jianhua voiced concern about Zimbabwe which stands on the same line of western sanction targets. "Chinese are human beings. We don´t feel happy about what is happening in Zimbabwe. China has never benefited at all from Zimbabwe. Ambassador Zhandg touched on what he saw as the root of the problem in Zimbabwe. "The problem is the approach. Britain has taken a very rigid attitude. Some people say pressure is the only way. But if you want to pressure and you cut dialogue you cannot reason with him[Mugabe]. You just shout. What do you do? Kill him? Arrange a coup d´etat?" In a desperate and pessimistic tone the Ambassador concluded. "At present, there is no immediate way to persuade him to this guy to give up. We have done our best. The out side world can shout, criticize and boycott, but in the end it´s for the people to decide.

Dispelling claims about China using Africa as a dumping ground for its goods and people, Ambassador Zhang spoke in the affirmative. "Chinese goods are a great equalizer." In his words, "cheap Chinese goods give confidence to the [African] poor." About the frightful influx of Chinese migrants into Africa, Zhang spoke in proverbial terms. "All leaves fall to their roots and you´d better come back before you die otherwise you are a failure. Glory is only in your home village."

Casting aside accusations about Chinese oil interests in Africa, Du Qiwen, former Chinese Ambassador to Kenya pointed out that when China carried out its largest assistance project in Africa-the TAN-ZAM railway in the 1970s, it was an oil exporter to Africa. He illustrated the figures about China´s position in vis-a-vis African oil. By these figures, Africa in 2006 only accounted for 8.7% of China´s total oil imports as compared with 36% for the EU and 33% for the US. "If you put 8.7% as neo-colonialism, how would you describe the EU and US positions?" he asked. He also emphasized that China´s assistance to Africa has reduced Africa´s debt burden and China remains the only country that has reduced the debt owed by African countries "most drastically."

On the question of Chinese arms transfers to the feuding parties in Sudan and the rest of the rogue and pariah states in Africa. Chinese officials have also pointed accusing fingers at Washington for selling more weapons to governments of the Third World. Angry about President Bush´s qualification of the Darfur crisis as "genocide," Liu Guijian has been very bitter. "I don´t like to debate with people what words should be used to describe what has happened, which has caused the displacement of people and cost them their lives," he said emphatically.

In the face of mounting criticisms, the Chinese government, with the help of its state media is making frantic efforts to placate the international community about its resolve to end the stalemate in Darfur .Last month, the state media (Xinhua) quoted a senior Chinese official as saying that China was pushing for a breakthrough in Darfur. He said that China was working with the international community to ensure the smooth deployment of an UN/AU hybrid peace keeping force in the region. Liu had earlier signaled that an advance troop of 315 engineering unit from China had already been deployed in Darfur.

Conclusion The debate about Sino-African relations rages on. This debate is marked by claims and counter claims, accusations and counter accusations. It is also characterized by hypocrisy and double standards on every side. Africa remains the battle ground as was the case during the Cold World. Some theorists see it both ways. Princeton Lyman for example, argues on both sides. "Its good for the continent because it brings in a new actor who´s willing to invest, but its bad if it turns countries away from the hard work of political and economic reform," he says. Whatever the claims and counter claims, the current situation provides a rare and unique opportunity for Africa. This time, the list of suitors is long. Their intentions are the same. All of them have an eye on Africa´s abundant natural resources. Whatever decision Africa makes today, whatever choice of friends Africa settles on, remains the basis on which she will be judged by history and posterity.